Name It to Change It

I was listening to the CEO of a manufacturing company wax on about his disappointment with his general manager. “I want him to create a plan for growth and profitability that includes how we manage x, y, and z and that produces results 1, 2, and 3” he said to me. “And he just hasn’t done it.”

Before I assumed we had a performance issue to deal with, I asked the million-dollar question. “Have you told him that’s what you want”

I’m sure you can guess the answer.

It is not uncommon to meet an executive who seems to prefer harboring disappointment over talking to an “Offender”  regarding performance.  Sometimes Execs tell me they don’t want to be a micro-manager or a heavy hand. Sometimes the cone of silence has been in place for so long that  the Exec fears changing the rules in the middle of the game. We all  know how unsporting that would appear! In exploring the facts, the Exec and I always reach agreement that the employee needs to change in order to positively impact the company; we also always agree that nothing will change without a chat. And at this point in our conversation it is typical for the Exec to be a little embarrassed and mutter a sheepish “I know, I know”.

I asked this particular President what was most important – the success of his company’s or maintaining his  strategy of silent anger.  The answer to that question was obvious as well. Yet he had been paralyzed for more than eight months.

It is my personal belief that leaders who put their own emotions before the performance of their organization  aren’t doing their job. Not only that, I judge their behavior as abdicating and perhaps even self-indulgent. And when I “suggest” my judgment to them, I ALWAYS see a shift of perception. Obviously there is no President who doesn’t have a deep caring about his company; he has just been stuck behind a lens of judgment that is inward facing. When we give that behavior a name, we aim the lens right back at the bottom line. I watch executives  visibly rise up before my eyes, and say “Thank You – I know exactly what I have to do.”

Naming behavior  is one of the most powerful ways to help people shift their focus from themselves to their company’s great good.  You can name your own behaviors simply by looking at the conversations you AREN’T having. It is always a self-centered motivation that keeps those words inside of you. Find the fear and you can slay your own dragons.